'I don't blame him' - Comedian Paul Merton on finding out how his grandfather fought for Ireland in the War of Independence

Comedian and TV star Paul Merton: Picture: Victoria Jones/PAJames Power, Paul Merton's maternal grandfatherPaul Merton's sister Angela Martin, Mary-Ann Power (Paul's mother) and Paul Merton (aged 7) - taken at Hemsby Holiday Camp - 1964Taking sides: Many who fought in the War of Independence had fought alongside the British in World War I.

When a priest told James’s wife her husband had died at sea, she went into shock and premature labour and tragically died in childbirth. Her baby boy survived only three days.

Contrary to reports that he had died at sea, records show that Power died in Cardiff age 37 of a heart attack before falling into a canal, where his body was recovered.

Merton had previously turned down the opportunity to star on Who Do You Think You Are following the protests of his parents. After their death in 2013, the comedian decided to revisit his family history.

Merton told the Radio Times: “I think my mum would have taken the attitude that it was a long time ago and [the IRA] was a different organisation then, and it was about getting away from British rule.

“They were an occupied country fighting for independence. Having gone through the experience he's gone through, I can completely understand why my grandfather would have been anti-British. It was very plausible, very understandable.

“As an Irishman in British uniform, James is ordered to shoot fellow Irishmen on the streets of the capital city of Ireland. That sort of thing could, to use a modern phrase, radicalise you, I could imagine.

He said that his extended family in Ireland had been moved by the episode.

“This was the old IRA. Some of my Irish relatives were very firm on the distinction between what it used to be and what it became, 50-odd years afterwards.

“The thing with the IRA is that people will think: 'Oh, the Birmingham bombings' and all that. But this was a different time. It needs to be put into context.”

Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Wednesday, August 28 on BBC One at 9pm